Left in Antarctica

Antarctica – this huge, frozen continent is bitterly cold, inhospitable as Mars and as far from civilization as any place on the planet. Just getting there has been a struggle; staying there has been near impossible. bear mute testimony to mankind’s perseverance in mastering what is literally the last place on Earth. Here are some tangible relics of our presence.


Shackleton’s Hut, UK, Abandoned 1909
Sir Ernest Shackleton participated in a number of Antarctic exploration expeditions in the first two decades of the 20th century, including the 1907-09 ‘Nimrod’ Expedition. Arriving at McMurdo Sound, Shackleton selected a landing site about 20 miles away from Hut Point (established by rival explorer Robert Falcon Scott during the 1901-04 Discovery Expedition).

Though Shackleton pushed to within 97 miles of the South Pole, setting a record, he and his party were forced to turn back. When the expedition departed Antarctica in March of 1909, he left the fully stocked, pre-fab hut behind – where it still stands, not much the worse for wear, to this day

Video tour of Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds

Scott’s Hut, UK, Abandoned 1913

The heroic yet ultimately doomed Terra Nova Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott in 1911 was based at Hut Point, the original base set up by Scott when he first arrived in Antarctica. Though Scott and his 4 companions reached the South Pole on January 17th, 1912, to their great disappointment they found that Roald Amundsen of Norway had beat them by nearly a full month.

As history records, Scott and his team (Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Evans) did not survive the return from the Pole but their hut on Ross Island remains, preserved by frigid cold and low humidity.

Mawson Station, Australia, 1914

The 1911-14 Australian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) led by Sir Douglas Mawson set a number ofscientific goals including making the first flight over Antarctic territory. Unfortunately Mawson’s flying plans were scuttled when the Vickers Monoplane suffered damage to its wings in transit and was used, wingless, as an air tractor.

Mawson Station was abandoned in 1914 though Mawson returned for short visits in 1929 and 1931. Remains of the Vickers aircraft’s metal frame were discovered on January 2nd, 2010, by a team from the Mawson’s Huts Foundation. The original huts at Mawson’s base at Cape Denison can be seen below, nearly subsumed by decades of snow and ice.

Leningradskaya Base, Soviet Union, Abandoned 1991

The Soviet research station “Leningradskaya” located in Oates Land, was set up in 1971 and abandoned in 1991 in the wake of the fall of communism and the accompanying fiscal crisis that beset the country. The remnants of the station sits at the edge of 100-ft high stone cliff looking out to the desolate Oates Coast of Antarctica.

More abandoned bases at WebUrbanist.